


This Moment

by bubblebucky



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-05 00:03:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14604681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblebucky/pseuds/bubblebucky
Summary: A quiet, loving moment in time with Gladio.





	This Moment

You’re beautiful like this. Well, truly, you’re beautiful all the time, but now especially.

Thighs peak out of rips in your jeans, arms taunt from how they support your weight as you lean back against the hood of the car. Your face is soft and smooth, relaxed in the gentle light of the moon.

He could stare at you all day and never get bored. He wishes he had some of Prompto’s skill so he could capture this moment, somehow keep it frozen so he could revisit it again and again. He wants to feel this forever, this rush of affection, this quiet, perpetual warmth in the center of his chest that throbs almost painfully as your hair gets tousled gently in the wind.

Gladio knows he sounds cheesy. He’s worse than some of the romance novels he mows through, and those are pretty bad. But there’s something about you, some strange thing you do to him, and he just can’t help it.

He watches too long; with the sort of tired alertness that comes with the life you both lead, you tense and turn, relaxing only when you realize it’s Gladio.

“Hey,” you say, mouth in a half smile, voice almost a whisper despite no one else being around.

Gladio’s heart clenches agonizingly as he returns the smile and finally joins you against the car, making it dip when his weight is added to yours. He loves you.

“Hey yourself.” Gladio’s voice takes on the same reverent cadence, and it feels appropriate; this is a moment just for the two of you. Not a secret, but close enough.

Beside him, you lean a bit until Gladio can feel the warm press of your jacket up the length of his side. Gladio doesn’t hesitate to slide his arm along your back and hold you closer, and in response he feels your head drop onto his shoulder.

It’s hard to break the silence when the moment is this perfect. You really did choose a beautiful night to come out there; the stars spread out in the sky above them like a blanket, blinking and glowing and being reflected in your eyes. The parking lot stretches out in front of you both, but beyond that, the wilderness. The faint light that the moon provides is just enough to let you see the outline of the rocky horizon in the distance, uneven as it cuts the night sky in half, and Gladio thinks that if he could just have this and nothing else–just your warmth against his side, nature’s beauty stretching out in front of him, and the simple knowledge that the ones he loves are safe–then he would be the happiest man in the world.

The feeling grows to a bursting point in his chest, so he tells you, “I love you.”

It doesn’t feel like enough, though, when you twist a little in his arms until you’re gazing up at Gladio with those big eyes that he adores. Three words just doesn’t cut it. They could never describe the magnitudes that push at his ribcage at the mere thought of you.

He tries again. “I need you more than anything in my life.”

Saying the words doesn’t lessen the pressure; if anything, it grows. Suddenly he’s desperate to tell you, to convince you that there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for you, but the words don’t come and all he can do is hold you tighter as his eyes start to burn.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” You’re frowning as you look up at Gladio, eyebrows pulling together, eyes widening. “Tell me what’s wrong, Gladio.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Gladio replies, a little gruff, and he tugs you a bit closer so he can press his face against your hair, “I promise. I just can’t believe how much you mean to me.”

“Oh,” You say, and your next words are ringed with relief and no small amount of fondness, “I love you, too.”

Gladio isn’t sure what to say, then, so he just gives a quiet grunt to let you know he heard. You laugh a little, then press your cheek against Gladio’s chest. He wonders if you can feel his heart overflowing, distended with his feelings, which seem to sharp and large in the silent landscape, underneath the careful watch of the heavens.

You sigh, hot against his skin, and close your eyes. Gladio breathes love in.

**Author's Note:**

> this is also posted on my tumblr, @bubblebucky!!
> 
> hmu if you want anything, really


End file.
